Hydraulic gate valve



SePf- 28, 1943- w. w. Posr-:Y 2,330,447

HYDRAULIC GATE VALVE Filed Dec. 27, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVEN TOR.

WALTER W PSE'Y A TTORNEYS.

Sept. 28, 1943. w. w. PosEY HYDRAULIC GATE VALVE Filed Dec. 27, 1940 2SheecS-Shee1'l 2 1m ENroR. mans@ m Poser ATTORNEYS.

lconnected to shore or Patented Sept'. 28, 1943 2,330,447 "HYDRAULIC GATE VALVE Walter W. Posey, r*East Lampeter ToWnsl1ip,Lan

. v .f caster County, I a.

Application `December 27,1940, Serial No. 371,943

4 claims.v (Crisi-144) one of the objects of this intention is te prd-l vide a valve assembly for hydraulicdredge lines which valve assembly will shut off one side of the Vline andypermit pipe` to be 4added to'that line or the directionof the flow changed, While at the the dredge to continue operating.y

Another objectfof thisinvention-is 4to provide means whereby the -gate valves forming thel valve assembly can be easily shifted from open to closed positions simplyby one man opening a 'few auxiliary valves. t Y

A further object is to use the pressure ,inthe discharging dredge line as a motivating means to open and close the gatevalves.

A- still further object is to provide means so that one of the branches of the `line will be continually opened and, hence, eliminate any damage to the pipe line by reason `ofboth vgates being closed at `the same time. `l

' A further object is to provide a piston with packing or a gaskettherein so that little or no leakage past the packing occurs, and to fermr the lower end of the piston so that it will scrape orf any mud or sediment which previously had not been washed oiir-` by the pressure ci the water.

Other and further objects will bei -apparent `from areading of the following:

Fig.' 1 is a top plan View of the entire valve assembly showingone of the gate-valves in sections. f Y l Y Fig. 2 is a front elevation ofthe device.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of thedevice showing certain of the elements in. sections...`

Fig. 4 is a sectionalview lof one of the relief valves.

In dredginghoperations for generally ywhat is known as pontoon pipe, supportedk en pontoons, mud, grit, gravel, and stones from the dredger to the shore. At the shore, the pontoon pipe is land pipe whichy carries thel material from thepontoon pipe to the place where it isto be deposited.- y, l

The shore pipe line is generally Vvvery .shortwhen `the dredgingoperation starts` and as the cuts or swamps are iilled with the deposited sediment, additional pipe is laid until by the end of the operation a very long pipe line results.

For a complete discussion of this problem see copending applicationby the same inventor, Se'- rialNo. 355,787,` which issued into Patent No.A

y2,267,168 on December 23, 1941. Y

It'has been the practice heretofore whenever additional pipe hasfbeen added to a line or the river work there is` `same timefpermittinghtheother line and hence to' be out of order.

direction of a line has been changed that the d-redger and theentiresystem has hadV to shut down, In certainl cases, Y connections were used and valves were also used to shift the discharge from one'branch to the other, These *valvesr and 1 their manual operating mechanisms were crude, and dirt and mud would adhere to the various elements and prevent their operation. Inwmost cases, even when several men attemptedtomove the valve, the dredger hadyto stop until the gate valve was opened or closed.

- Applicant has used and experimented with Valves suitable for use in` dredge pipe and `which are operatedy manually by means of levers or a screw.; These valves soon become inoperative bee cause of grit and dirt Vgetting through the openings and causing the` Valves toffreeze to the housing.` v f v This saving of time may not seem important, but when it is considered that the rental for dredgers is exceedingly high, i. e., from approximately $80,000 to $120,000 per v month, it can readily be seen that an improvement whichprevents stoppages of this sort is of far reaching importance. 1

In the present invention the-various operating elements are simple and therefore are less likely No external power is needed inasmuch as the pressure for operating the valves is taken directly from kthe discharge line in which pressure is supplied by the dredger. This'pressure is exceedingly high at the rstY'branch which carries the water,l

which may be near to the dredger, and. isstill high at subsequent Y joints even though they arer quite some distance from the dredger. On'some dredging operations one Y branch is' sufcient.

However, on other operations many Y branches are used.

Applicant desires to claim any and all advantagesr which are inherent in his' device. It will vbe understoodthat the invention is susceptible yof embodimentin various'forms, one of whichl is illustrated in the accompanying drawings and that-the structural details herein set forthmay be varied to suit particular purposes without departing from the spirit of the invention. However,'it is not intended that the invention should be limited by the drawings or by any description,

but to be limited only by the broadest possible kscope of rnyinvention. i

Looking'at Fig. 1 of the drawings,` numeral lI e* represents shore pipe to which a Y branchis at tached. Shore pipe 3 and 4 are secured to each leg of the Y. Cylindrical bonnets 5 and B are secured to shore pipe-3 and 4 respectively. These bonnets each house a piston 'I and a gate valve 8.

The hydraulic take-01T power line is indicated by numeral 9 which'through connection I B and valve I I enters bonnet 5 beneath the piston. Likewise, through connections I2 and valve I3, power is supplied to the under side of piston 'I in bonnet 6.

Relief of pressure on the under side of piston 'I is eiected through discharge pipe i-'I andI t8 and valves I9 and 2U. The check or control line comprises pipe I4 and I 5 and control valve I5.

Supports 2| and 22 are attached to bonnets B and 5 respectively and carry sheaves or pulleys 23 and 24 respectively, over which a chain or cable 25 passes. Cable 25 is attached tovpistonrod 2l at the one end and piston rod 26 at the other end. 'Ihese piston rods are secured to pistons l which,

` in turn, are secured to the gate valves 8f.

Bands 28 encircle the lower half of pipe 3 and 4 from the point where the bonnet joins the pipe.

These'bands provide a bottom for the pocket into which the gate valves iit, and together with the pipe form a stop against which the gate valves may abut and thus resist the force produced by thel dredger.

Relief valves I9 and 2G comprise a handle 29 at- :f

tached to a screw threaded rod 3E) on the lower end of which rides a slide valve SI. When the handle is turned, the valvel willi ride up the rod and thus open therelief outlet'.

The operation of the 'invention isas followsz' Assume that the valves are in the position shown in'Fig. 2, i. e., that the right branch is open andthe left branch is closed, and it is desired to close the right branch and open the left branch. l..

The first step is to remove the pressure beneath the piston in bonnet 5; This is done by closing pressure valve I I and then opening relief valve I5..

The second step is tol apply pressure beneath the piston in bonnet S. This is done by closing relief valve 201 andthen opening pressure valve i3.

The third and iinal step is to` open or regulate control valve I5 and' permit the piston in bonnet 6. to rise and force the oil or other liquid: which is above the piston in the upper portion of the bonnet to pass through pipe line It, I 5. and force the piston and gate valve in bonnet 5` downwardly. After the pistons have completed their movement, control valve E5. should be closed.V If not closed at this'point, the operator may neglect to close it beforebeginning the next operation.

To again open pipe line 3, the.A reverse proceduretakes place; i. e., close pressure Valve I3', open relief valve 2Q, close relief valveA I9; open pressure valve II, open control valve I6, and

finally close control valve I-.

As is readily apparent, after the pistons and gate valves have completed their movement, and the controlvalve I6 has been closed, the various pressure and relief valves mayy bey opened or closed in preparation for the next shift.

Ordinarily the pressure inthe dredge line Vwould be insufficient to lift the piston and valve unless it were counterbalanced by the other piston and valve. Hence, chain or'cable 25 is` used. to connect the twopistons.

Another advantage of the cable isthat it makes it impossible to close both valvesat.V the same. time and thus damage the dredger or the pipe line..

Control Valve I6 is desirabla. although not necessary, because without it, when the pistons startmoving they gather a lot of momentumand are capable of damaging the pipe line. A brake on the pulleys or the piston rod would work, but would not be as satisfactory as the liquid control line.

Various obvious modications could be made in this device. For example, pressure pipe 9 which is attached to the base of the Y could be attached to the forward end of pipe 3 and 4 and feed directly into the bonnet. Likewise, branch pipes` I tl and l2E could be` so arranged as to feed into the forward side of .the bonnet instead of from the rearward side. Also, control pipes I4, I5 and valve I6 could be deleted with a corresponding sacriiice of smooth and eicient operation. Y

It ,is clearly apparent that applicant has invented a device comprising a small number of rugged'parts coacting together to utilize pressure from theT pipe line itself to open and close gate valves by means of an easy, simple, and foolproof mechanism.

What I claim is: l.. In a dredge* line having a plurality of leg vwith closure means in each'leg, means for actuating said' closure means, said actuating means comprising a pipe lineadapted to'conduct pressure from said dredge line tovoperate said closure means, and iiexibleineansI connecting said plurality of closure means to facilitate the movement of said closuremeans;

2. InA a dredging device, a discharge line, a Y branch line, a bonnet positionedv on each leg of the Y branch line, a piston in each bonnet, closing means carried by said pistons, piston rods connected to said pistonsat one end', a flexible element connected to the' other end of said'l piston rods in such a manner that one of said pistons and closing means moving in one direction will cause the other'o-fsaid pistons andclosing means to move in the oppositedirection, a pressure line connected at one end tothe line and at the-other end: to each of said bonnets, means in* said pressure line to direct the pressure toj said bonnets, relief means secured to said bonnetsf, and control means whereby the rise `and fallof said pistons and: said closing means can be` controlled.

3; In a dredging device, aY discharge line, a Y branch line, a bonnet positioned on each leg oi' the Y branch line, a piston in each` bonnet, closing means carried by said pistons,` a pressure line connected at one end to `the line and at the other end to each of said bonnets, means in said pressure line to direct the pressurel to said bonnets, relief means securedto said bonnets, and control means, said control means comprising a iiexible connection so constructed and arranged `that when one piston rises', the other piston falls.

4; In a pipe line'h'aving a branch, an extension positioned on each leg of the Y` branch, apiston in each extension, closing means operated by said pistons, apressure 4line connected at one end to the line and at theother end to each of said extensions, means in said pressure line toA selectively direct the pressure tovsaid extensions, relief means secured to said extensions, and1 control means to regulate the rise and fall of saidf pistons and said closing means, said-closing means being connectedtogetherv so' that when one1 closing means is closing, the other closing meansis opening.

WALTER W. PosEY. 

